The simple luxury of a morning routine

 Savoring simple daily pleasures

I relish and enjoy and savor my morning routines throughout the year: I am an early riser anyway, and I enjoy the early morning productive and energizing and allowing it to set the tone for the day. Typically I am up and awake between 5am-6am even on weekends, year round.  I look forward to all the little simple pleasures of my day- greeting my cats and giving them a cuddle and their breakfast, a tall glass of water before the first sip of coffee; I ENJOY doing the laundry- especially hanging it out early on a fine day. 

I take pleasure in leaving the house tidy and organized and set for the afternoon/ evening when we all return. And its SO much nicer to come home to. 

What has begun happening just over the last couple of weeks, as we approach the longest day here in New Zealand, is I am waking up completely naturally, with my genuine circadian rhythm. It is such a pleasure to slowly and gently come to, glance at the clock, then watch the light change and eventually rise and filter though the tree tops to light up our bedroom with that special morning glow. A brand new day. (We don't close the drapes in our bedroom- we never have in any of our homes as we've always been fortunate enough to have very private homes and prefer to see the night sky, the trees, the dawn,  I enjoy the coziness of watching and listening to the rain lash the windows or the silhouettes of the trees being buffeted in the winter months) 

During these summery months, I wake naturally, allow myself to fully wake, and take such pleasure in listening to the birds as they begin their busy day, the hum and chirrup of the cicadas warming up, and then throwing open the windows fully and the bed covers as I potter downstairs to enjoy my coffee outside in the fresh morning air. The simple joy this brings me each day make me excited for the next one.  

It has been a wonderful week of festive social engagements, from Bach Oratorio at the Town Hall, celebrating my Husbands birthday with Brunch at favorite spot out of town followed by a wander though an impressive sculpture garden,  lunch and browsing the beautiful big department stores in the city with their magical windows, to a showing at the Grand Theatre of the movie Love Actually, accompanied spectacularly by a live orchestra on stage playing the entire score. And while each of these wonderful experiences were a treat and absolutely delightful, waking up to the birds and a whole day stretching out Infront of me in which to enjoy my home, family, pets and garden- and the local beach, is truly my favorite simple pleasure. 

Its easy to get caught up in the hype and festivities- as fun as they might be- and this is not intended to take the shine off these Christmassy outings and excursions, nor the friends and family I happily experience them with, but coming home for a shower, a cup of my favorite peppermint tea in a festive mug, a quiet sit outside as night falls and climbing into bed with a good book, knowing I will gladly and gratefully wake with the birds tomorrow, is a treasure not to be overlooked. 

A simple pleasure indeed. 

Now my Spode Christmas cup of coffee is empty, I've finished my water too, and written this outside in my nightgown as many people in the neighborhood still rush off to work for their last week before Christmas, I am off to pop some shorts on and go for a long bush walk with a friend before fully enjoying and savoring the luxury of pottering about my home and garden for the rest of the day. A spot of weeding, some tomatoes to plant, fresh line dried linen to put back on beds, and some sourdough bread to bake, a book to finish. What a dreamy day I have ahead.